Sport

What strength routine can soccer players follow?

Strength is one of the most important parameters for soccer players, although it is an aspect that is sometimes left aside in training. Therefore, having a strength routine with which to improve your ability is key to fully developing your skills.

If you haven’t included strength training in your soccer workouts, then you’re not realizing your full potential. These exercises give you everything you need to further develop your ability to move around the pitch, gain strength to fight balls 1v1, and improve balance and coordination. All this without forgetting that exercises to work on strength also help you reduce the risk of lower body injuries. So having strength routines suited to your needs and preferences is always a good idea.

By the way, in this case it is important to take into account the sex of the athlete, so a gym routine for men is not the same as a routine for women. The same goes for the player’s physical starting point and other parameters such as his weight or age. All these details are important when establishing the strength training routine to use. What you can leave aside is your kit, your Nike football boots and the ball, because as you will see, the exercises that we include are executed almost all off the field of play.

Warm up and rest

As in any training, warming up is essential when establishing a gym routine for beginners or more advanced users. These warm-ups prevent us from suffering injuries when doing our training sessions, as well as to treat any previous injuries we may have. This warm-up consists of various movements and stretches in those muscle groups that we are going to train, which should be gentle at the beginning and more demanding at the end.

Regarding rest periods, they are essential when performing a weekly gym or conventional routine. In general, you should not train every day, but you need to take breaks every three or four days. Another option is to run five work sessions and two rest sessions each week, although it depends on your intensity. As for the development of the work sessions, it is convenient to leave about two or three minutes between each exercise and no more than one minute between each series of the same exercise.

5×5 routine

Starting with the development of these routines, we find the 5×5 system. This routine consists of five series of five repetitions each of the exercises established in the routine. One of the advantages of this system is that it is a simple and simplified procedure, with which to gain strength without having to spend a lot of time on the process.

The basis of this system is to perform three exercises each day through the 5×5 training that we have been discussing. So, the first day we would have to do squats, bench press and deadlifts. Military press or barbell row exercises are also included, among others. These are the main exercises, leaving it up to you to choose both the level of weight or resistance and the organization of them. The key is to perform 3 exercises each day with that 5 × 5 approach that we have been discussing. By the way, in this system you train one day and rest the next, in order to gain more muscle mass without overloading your body.

4 day strength routine

Another interesting option when it comes to strength training is to resort to a 4-day routine. In this case, the exercises should be focused on strengthening both the upper and lower body. A complete approach with which to improve all the muscle groups involved, although here you can also set priorities regarding the groups that are most convenient for you to train.

Among the exercises that we can use, we have a wide variety, such as the bench press, pull-ups, dips, rows or even planks. The only precaution you should take when planning your routine is to organize the exercises in such a way that you cover all the muscle groups, dedicating more time to those that arouse the most interest for you. 

Regarding the execution, in general, 5 to 6 series are recommended, depending on the exercise, with repetitions of 8 to 15 elements depending on the exercise. In the case of the plates, these last around 30 seconds in the first training sessions, and this time can be extended as you gain strength. However, it is important to start low until you can assess your own level and adapt the exercises to your specific ability to perform or progression.

weekly gym routine

As an alternative to the two basic routines that we have discussed above, it is also possible to resort to a gym routine. These routines are also suitable when the routines that we have discussed fall short for you or do not serve you to advance towards your specific goals.

Practically all gyms today have training consultants, who will be in charge of evaluating your physical condition and offering you the necessary exercises to achieve your goals through personalized routines. In this case, it is important that you let your coach know that you plan to do soccer training or similar, so that this training fits your needs.

This help is also important in those cases in which you want to start a weight routine that suits your needs. Although it is true that on the net you can find all kinds of exercises and approaches to start, nothing better than having personalized advice when it comes to knowing which exercises are the best for you when training.

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